Robert Citron, treasurer behind O.C. bankruptcy, dies at 87

Jan. 17, 2013

Updated Aug. 21, 2013 1:17 p.m.

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Former Orange County Treasurer Robert L. Citron glances back at his wife, Terry Citron, moments after Superior Court Judge J. Stephen Czuleger sentenced Citron to a year in county jail and a $100,000 fine. FILE: MARK RIGHTMIRE, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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After pleading guilty to six felony counts following Orange County's bankruptcy, Citron served five years of supervised probation. FILE PHOTO: ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Bob Citron at the Santa Ana Kiwanis Christmas Party in 2012. PHOTO COURTESY OF ROB RICHARDSON

Former Orange County Treasurer Robert L. Citron glances back at his wife, Terry Citron, moments after Superior Court Judge J. Stephen Czuleger sentenced Citron to a year in county jail and a $100,000 fine. FILE: MARK RIGHTMIRE, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

ORANGE – Robert L. Citron, the former Orange County tax collector who presided over the county's investments when it went into bankruptcy in 1994, died Wednesday at St. Joseph's Hospital in Orange, Orange County Supervisor John Moorlach said. He was 87.

Citron was a wizard of high finance, earning millions of extra dollars for local governments with exotic investment schemes that soared over most everyone's head.

But in 1994, his investments went awry, and Orange County lost $1.64 billion, ushering county government into what was then the largest municipal bankruptcy in American history. Citron was forced to resign from the job that had defined him, and he fell into a deep depression.

In the devastation that followed, there was a startling revelation: Citron's office had been diverting money from school districts to the county and keeping two sets of books. The one-time financial hero became a convicted felon at 71.

Citron was fined $100,000 and sentenced to one year in jail. He served his sentence at the jail commissary, processing orders for toothpaste and candy bars that came in from the inmates. He continued to collect his $92,900-a-year pension.

Citron was born in Los Angeles on April 14, 1925.

He ran for county tax collector in 1970 and won.

In 1973, the county decided to save money by merging the offices of tax collector and treasurer. It seemed a natural fit: The tax collector took in hundreds of millions of dollars; the treasurer's office invested, accounted for and distributed the money.

Citron had no background in accounting or investing. He had never owned a single share of stock. But the offices were combined under his leadership nonetheless.

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